Recently I have gotten into more than one discussion that involved the need to avenge or "get even" with someone. It has me thinking about the nature of Karma and vengeance and the difference between the two.
Karma is a concept of Eastern philosophy that states what you did in you past life visits you in this life. I may be oversimplifying it, but Westerners have adopted karma as "You were mean to me and the universe will get you for it" It doesn't quite work that way. People seem to think they can call karma out of the sky like an Old Testament lighting bolt. Again. No. You earn your karma in your last life and what is there is here. You are thinking of revenge.
Now, revenge is a concept as old as time. I think of TWO Klingon (ha) proverbs. "When setting out on revenge, first dig two graves" and the most famous "Revenge is a dish best served cold" Revenge has a way of rebounding on people that the person who is hell-bent on revenge often cannot see if they are blinded by their red heat of rage. Often, the fallout hurts more people than the intended victim. Sometimes the intended victim skates by altogether and the person SEEKING the vengeance gets hit. Mostly it's people around both who are injured by the vengeance and sometimes it takes years to undo the damage.
My husband is always reminding me that the Universe had balance and as surely as the wave must return to the ocean, things go back into balance without our help. I do believe that the Universe has a way of working things out the way they are supposed to be if we just LET it. This is where the concept of Schadenfreude comes in. It means Joy from someone else's misery. It's why we laugh when the bully gets it in the end of the film. Satisfying. To be able to stand by and watch the "bad guy" get their just desserts without DOING anything. Yes. Do I feel somewhat guilty in that pleasure? Why yes I do, but it IS human nature and I am going with it.
In a conversation with a friend from elementary school about a teacher who terrorized him and whom he would like to punch in the face ( apparently this particular teacher had a LOT of people who hated him because he was a bully, I looked him up on a website and saw at least ONE more person who after almost 50 years STILL had the desire for revenge) I told my friend something that I really believe; Living well is the BEST revenge. The way to get "Even" is to pull ahead. People who want to drag you down cannot stand it when you are just out there, doing your thing DESPITE them. Eliminate people from your life who want to drag you down and LIVE
Well, and then there was that crude way of putting it back in the 80's "Payback is a motherf*#!er" or sometimes we just used to say, "What goes around, comes around."
ReplyDeleteNow I am a great one for plaaanning and or plotting revenge and payback. I don't actually carry it out, but it is fun for me to imagine - when I was at a certain library branch for instance, I used to imagine driving by and night and throwing rocks through all the windows, or even setting it on fire. Almost as good as actually doing it, and not a sin and not illegal.
Tom
OK, scary here. Around 4 this morning I woke up thinking of your laltest blog, and this is what crossed the forefront of what passes for my mind: In the areas of Divine Retribution, I suddenly remembered that 70's television show Maude, wherein Bea Arthur kept telling people, "God's gonna get you for that," and then country stars George Jones and Tammy Wynette (who may or may not have still been married at the time) made a song of that title. Needless to say, this kept me awake for some time. Somehow, I feel I owe you revenge for THAT! HA! (Sparky, however, slept the whole time)
ReplyDeleteTom